On February 19, 1983, Sharon Mason got off a bus in the Perth suburb of Mosman Park.
The 14-year-old was never seen alive again.
Sharon was reported missing later that night. A photo of her was widely circulated in the media but an intense investigation failed to find any real leads in the case.
For a long time Sharon’s father, Michael, was considered to be the prime suspect in the case. Two years after her disappearance, Michael who was separated from Sharon’s mother, ended his own life.
Arthur Greer speaks exclusively to 60 Minutes…
Then, nearly 10 years later in 1992, Sharon’s body was found during excavation works behind a former dress shop.
Police soon arrested local man Arthur Greer, who had owned the dress shop, Prunella Fashions, at the time of Sharon’s disappearance.
According to Perth Now, records showed Greer sold the business five months after Sharon’s disappearance and moved on.
Greer was a known pedophile and domestic abuser, who had been convicted of indecently assaulting his own daughter, Susan, when she was just seven years old.
Police detectives believed Sharon was lured into Prunella Fashions by a sign in the window seeking a young assistant to work in the shop. Once she entered the shop, she was preyed upon by Greer and eventually murdered.
They believe Greer then dismembered the teenager and buried her remains at the back of the shop.
After 12 hours of questioning, Greer was formally charged with Sharon’s murder.
At his trial, the Crown presented a purely circumstantial case. Nobody had witnessed Sharon entering the shop and there was no forensic evidence linking Greer to Sharon’s remains.
However, Greer was convicted of Sharon’s murder and spent the last 25 years behind bars.
In June this year, Greer was granted parole and immediately deported to the UK.
He was freed on Attorney-General John Quigley’s recommendation after a report into the prisoner’s ailing health. It was decided he should be paroled and deported back to his home country after serving 25 years.
But the Perth father-of-three has always maintained his innocence.
On Sunday night’s episode of 60 Minutes, Tara Brown speaks exclusively to the now 80-year-old.
“I’ve never met her. I couldn’t have hurt her,” Greer tells Brown.
“It looks bad, but if you look at the circumstances of it, it’s not.”
The case has not only split public opinion in Western Australia, it’s also divided Greer’s own family.
Greer’s daughter Susan, who he assaulted, believes her father is guilty of the crime.
“I can tell you he was a pedophile,” she tells Brown.
However, Greer’s other daughter, Chrissy, believes her father has been wrongly convicted.
“I know my dad didn’t do anything, he’s innocent,” she says.
Chrissy told Perth Now in 2017 that what happened to her dad could happen to anyone.
“They just picked Dad and built a case. Dad was a candidate that they could portray as a killer because of his past,” she said.
“It could be your brother, your father, your son, your daughter. We just need to get to the bottom of it, not only so Dad can be free, but for Sharon to rest in peace.”
You can watch the full story on 60 Minutes at 8:30pm tonight on Channel Nine.
Top Comments
I don't think its too much of a bad thing that this guy had been locked up for 25 years, given what he did to his daughter. Cry me a river, buddy.